Tag: Johan Santana

On Deck: Tuesday April 29, 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15) at New York Mets (13-11)    7:10pm

Ian Snell (2-1) vs. Johan Santana (3-2)

TV: SNY   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: Turning this into a two game series makes things interesting because you don’t want to split it with a team as bad as the Pirates. Now we’re looking to sweep the short series. The Mets have already been swept in two short ones, in Atlanta and in Chicago. It’s time to start turning this mediocre season around.

National League Cy Young Award Contenders

Johan Santana's 2006 AwardsImage by resedabear via Flickr

When Johan Santana was traded to the Mets this off-season I was thinking that he would win the Cy Young Award for the National League hands down. He still might do that but there are other pitchers having better April’s than Santana.

Brandon Webb (6-0) has been lights out this year and won the award two years ago. His 1.28 ERA and the Diamond Backs early season success has him as the early favorite.

Jake Peavey (2-1), last year’s winner, has a 2.09 ERA in San Diego. With little offensive support and the D-Backs looking like a runaway train in the West, he probably won’t win it again even with another big season.

Johan Santana (3-2) is still in the running. His 3.12 ERA is just fine but not elite material yet. He’s still got plenty of time to take his place among the league leaders so don’t get down on him (or boo him).

John Donovan at Sports Illustrated wrote a good analysis of the pitchers that have Cy Young Award aspirations this season, and the talent to get the award.

Check out the picture of Santana’s 2006 awards: Cy Young Award, MLBPA Players Choice Award, and Baseball America Player of the Year.

On Deck: Monday April 28, 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15) at New York Mets (13-11)    7:10pm

Ian Snell (2-1) vs. Johan Santana (3-2)

TV: SNY Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Pirates are a dreadful team in last place in the worst division in baseball. They haven’t made the playoffs since Barry Bonds was there if you can remember back that far. The Mets absolutely have to win two of the three games in this series. Ian Snell’s not a bad pitcher although his last start against St. Louis was poor. The weather is supposed to be terrible with heavy rain predicted for tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be interesting to see what the Mets do with Santana tomorrow. They don’t want to “waste” one of his starts if the game is going to get rained out. The Mets could start a long reliever in case the game can’t be played in full.

On Deck: Saturday April 26, 2008

Atlanta Braves (12-11) at New York Mets (11-11)  1:10pm

Tim Hudson (3-1) vs. John Maine (1-2)

TV: CW11    Radio: WFAN

What to watch: After dropping the first game of the series to the Braves, the Mets need to win both Saturday and Sunday to win this home series against division rivals. The Mets don’t seem to have anything going for them right now except for Johan Santana and he can’t pitch every day unfortunately. Maine will have to be the stopper in this one. Carlos Delgado is scheduled to be back in the lineup after only making a pinch hitting appearance and striking out Friday night.

Santana and Wagner Aren’t Clutch

Today’s post by Baseball Analysts examines the concept of pitchers being clutch. Of course, we’ve all talked about which hitters are clutch but I’ve never seen an analysis of which pitchers are clutch.

Surprisingly, Johan Santana and Billy Wagner are both on the list of the least clutch pitchers. I definitely haven’t noticed that about Wagner although he usually starts the ninth inning so there are no runners on for him to inherit. It’s easier to start an inning rather than come in with men on, or in scoring position.

Time will tell about Santana. I didn’t watch him everyday with Minnesota, so this season will be my first to see him pitch frequently